This Photoshop Tutorial 2009 Steve Patterson, Photoshop Essentials.com.

Not To Be Reproduced Or Redistributed Without Permission.

1
Photo Effects: Action Zoom Blurring Effect By Steve Patterson, Photoshop Essentials.com
In this Photoshop photo effects tutorial, well learn how to add some action and a sense of motion to a photo with a zoom
blur effect. Well use Photoshops Radial Blur flter to add the initial blurring, then well bring back some of the original
image using a layer mask and the Gradient Tool. Not only is this a great (and popular) way to help bring an image to life,
but the entire effect can be completed in less than fve minutes once youre comfortable with the steps.
Heres how it will look after adding the blur effect:
Lets get started!
The fnal action zoom effect.
Heres the photo Ill be using for this tutorial:
The original image.
The original image appears on the
Background layer in the Layers panel.
The frst step in creating our action zoom effect is to duplicate the
Background layer so we can work on a separate copy of the image, which
will allow us to bring back some of the original image later. With our photo
newly opened in Photoshop, if we look in the Layers panel, we can see
that we currently have one layer, the Background layer, which is the layer
than contains our photo:
Step 1: Duplicate The Background Layer
ACTion Zoom BLurring EffECT
This Photoshop Tutorial 2009 Steve Patterson, Photoshop Essentials.com.
Not To Be Reproduced Or Redistributed Without Permission.
2
Photo Effects: Action Zoom Blurring Effect By Steve Patterson, Photoshop Essentials.com
To duplicate the Background layer, go up to the Layer
menu in the menu Bar at the top of the screen, choose
new, and then choose Layer via Copy. Or, for a faster
way to duplicate a layer in Photoshop, use the keyboard
shortcut Ctrl+J (Win) / Command+J (Mac):
Go to Layer > New > Layer via Copy, or
press Ctrl+J (Win) / Command+J (Mac).
Either way you choose tells Photoshop to make a copy of the layer, and if we
look again in the Layers panel, we can see that we now have two layers. The
original Background layer is on the bottom, while a brand new layer named
Layer 1 sits above it. If we look at the preview thumbnails to the left of
the layer names, we can see that both layers contain the same image, which
means we can now do whatever we want to the image on Layer 1 and the
original photo will remain safe and unharmed on the Background layer below
it:
An exact copy of the image now appears on
Layer 1 above the Background layer.
This brings up Photoshops Radial Blur dialog box. The Radial Blur flter gives us a choice of two different types of blurring
- Spin and Zoom. Since were creating a zoom effect, set the Blur method option on the left side of the dialog box to
Zoom. Directly below the Blur Method option is the Quality option. Choose Best for the quality.
Go to Filter > Blur > Radial Blur.
With Layer 1 selected in the Layers panel (it should be highlighted in
blue), go up to the filter menu at the top of the screen, choose Blur, and
then choose radial Blur:
Step 2: Apply The radial Blur filter
Set the blur type, quality, amount and zoom point.
We control how much blurring is applied to the image with the Amount option at the top of the dialog box. The higher
the Amount value we select, the more blurring is applied. Drag the slider towards the right to increase the Amount value,
or drag it towards the left to decrease it. Unfortunately, the Radial Blur flter
doesnt give us a preview of the effect, so youll probably need to try a few
different values before you fnd the one that works best for your image. Ill
explain how to do that in a moment. Im going to set my Amount value to 50, but
the value you end up choosing may be different.
Finally, use the Blur Center box on the right side of the Radial Blur dialog box
to set the point where the blur will appear to be zooming out from. Simply
click inside the box to set the point. Again, theres no way to preview the effect
before running the flter so be prepared to try a few times before you get it right.
I want my blur effect to appear to be coming from behind the girls head, so Im
going to click above and to the right of center in the box to set my point.
This Photoshop Tutorial 2009 Steve Patterson, Photoshop Essentials.com.
Not To Be Reproduced Or Redistributed Without Permission.
3
Photo Effects: Action Zoom Blurring Effect By Steve Patterson, Photoshop Essentials.com
Then, to quickly bring the Radial Filter dialog box back up, press Ctrl+Alt+F (Win) / Command+Option+F (Mac). Choose
a different Amount value and/or set a different point for the zoom effect in the Blur Center box, then click OK to run the
flter again. You can undo and redo the flter as many times as you need until you get the results you want.
Click OK when youre done to exit out of the dialog box.
Depending on the speed of your computer, as well as the
size and complexity of your image, you may need to wait
a bit for Photoshop to fnish applying the blur, so dont
panic if it seems like nothing is happening. After waiting
a few seconds for Photoshop to do its thing, here is my
image with the zoom blur applied:
It may take a few tries before you get the
results you want with the Radial Blur flter.
If youre not happy with your initial blur results and want to try again, frst undo the
flter by going up to the Edit menu at the top of the screen and choosing undo
radial Blur. Or, for a faster way to undo the flter, use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Z
(Win) / Command+Z (Mac):
Undo the blur effect with Edit > Undo Radial Blur,
or press Ctrl+Z (Win) / Command+Z (Mac).
Click on the Layer Mask icon.
The problem with our blur effect is that its covering up the entire image,
which isnt really what we want. In my case, the blur effect is distorting the
girls face, so I want to hide the effect in that part of the image and allow
the original photo to show through. We can do that easily using a layer
mask. With Layer 1 still selected, click on the Layer mask icon at the
bottom of the Layers panel. Its the icon that looks like a rectangle with a
round hole in the center of it:
Step 3: Add A Layer mask
The highlight border around the layer
mask thumbnail tells us that the
mask, not the layer, is selected.
Nothing will appear to happen in the document window, but a layer mask
thumbnail appears to the right of the preview thumbnail for Layer 1 in
the Layers panel, letting us know that weve added our layer mask. If you
look closely at the thumbnail, youll see a white highlight border around it,
which tells us that the layer mask, not the layer itself, is selected:
This Photoshop Tutorial 2009 Steve Patterson, Photoshop Essentials.com.
Not To Be Reproduced Or Redistributed Without Permission.
4
Photo Effects: Action Zoom Blurring Effect By Steve Patterson, Photoshop Essentials.com
Since we drew the gradient on the layer mask, not on the layer itself, we dont see the gradient in the document window.
Click anywhere outside of the Gradient Picker to close out of it when youre done.
Were going to draw a black-to-white gradient on the layer mask to hide part of the blur effect and create a
nice, smooth transition between the effect on Layer 1 and the original image on the Background layer below
it. To draw the gradient, well need Photoshops gradient Tool, so select it from the Tools panel. You can also
select the Gradient Tool by pressing the letter g on your keyboard:
Step 4: Select The gradient Tool
Select the Gradient Tool.
With the Gradient Tool selected, right-click (Win) / Control-click (Mac) anywhere
inside the document window to quickly bring up the gradient Picker. Click on the
Black to White gradient to select it. Its the third gradient from the left, top row:
Step 5: Select The Black to White gradient
Click on the Black to White gradient in
the Gradient Picker to select it.
By default, the Gradient Tool is set to draw a standard linear gradient, but we also have different styles to choose from,
all of which can be selected from the options Bar at the top of the screen. Youll see a row of fve icons, each one
representing a different shape for the gradient (Linear, Radial, Angle, Refected, and Diamond). Select radial gradient
by clicking on its icon (second one from the left):
Step 6: Select The radial gradient
Select the Radial Gradient.
I want to allow the girls face to show through the blurring effect, so with the Gradient Tool, the Black to White gradient
and the Radial Gradient style selected, Ill click in the center of her face to set my starting point for the gradient. Then Ill
simply drag my mouse towards the left until Im just beyond her hair. The area in between the starting and end points of
the gradient will become a smooth transition area between the blurring effect on Layer 1 and the original image on the
Background layer below it. Since Im drawing a radial gradient, the gradient will extend 360 around my starting point
(which means it doesnt really matter which direction you drag from the starting point), creating a circular shape with black
in the center and gradually changing to white as it extends out in all directions:
Step 7: Drag out A radial gradient To Hide Part of The Blur Effect
Drag out a Radial Gradient across the area
where you want to hide the blur effect and
reveal the original photo underneath.
This Photoshop Tutorial 2009 Steve Patterson, Photoshop Essentials.com.
Not To Be Reproduced Or Redistributed Without Permission.
5
Photo Effects: Action Zoom Blurring Effect By Steve Patterson, Photoshop Essentials.com
And with that, were done! Here, after fne-tuning my
results with the Opacity option, is my fnal action zoom
effect result:
Instead, we see the results of the gradient on the layer
mask. The girls face is now visible through the blurring
effect:
Drawing the gradient on the layer mask reveals
part of the original image underneath.
The fnal photo effect.
Even though we cant see the gradient in the document window, we can
see it if we look at the layer mask thumbnail in the Layers panel. The black
area represents the part of the layer thats now hidden from view. As the
gradient becomes lighter towards the edges, more of the layer becomes
visible. The white areas are where the layer is completely visible:
If youre not happy with your initial gradient, simply press Ctrl+Z (Win) /
Command+Z (Mac) to undo the gradient, then try again.
The layer mask thumbnail shows us
the radial gradient we added.
Lower the opacity of Layer 1 to reduce the intensity of the blur.
If you fnd that your blur effect is too strong, you can reduce its intensity by
lowering the opacity of Layer 1. Lowering the layers opacity value will
allow more of the original image on the Background layer below it to show
through. Youll fnd the opacity option in the top right of the Layers panel.
Keep an eye on your document window as you adjust the opacity to judge
the results. Im going to lower mine down to around 70% (left):
Step 8: Lower The opacity To fine-Tune The results
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